Pulse Amplitude Modulation

(PAM)
Introduction
The purpose of the modulator is to convert
discrete amplitude serial symbols (bits in a
binary system) a
k
to analogue output pulses
which are sent over the channel.
The demodulator reverses this process
Modulator Channel Demodulator
Serial data
symbols
a
k
analogue
channel pulses
Recovered
data symbols
Introduction
Possible approaches include
Pulse width modulation (PWM)
Pulse position modulation (PPM)
Pulse amplitude modulation (PAM)
We will only be considering PAM in these
lectures
PAM
PAM is a general signalling technique
whereby pulse amplitude is used to convey
the message
For example, the PAM pulses could be the
sampled amplitude values of an analogue
signal
We are interested in digital PAM, where the
pulse amplitudes are constrained to chosen
from a specific alphabet at the transmitter
PAM Scheme
H
C
(e)
h
C
(t)
Symbol
clock
H
T
(e) h
T
(t)
Noise N(e)
Channel
+
Pulse
generator
a
k

Transmit
filter

=
=
k
k s
kT t a t x ) ( ) ( o

=
=
k
T k
kT t h a t x ) ( ) (
Receive
filter
H
R
(e), h
R
(t)
Data
slicer
Recovered
symbols
Recovered
clock
) ( ) ( ) ( t v kT t h a t y
k
k
+ =

=
Modulator
Demodulator
PAM
In binary PAM, each symbol a
k
takes only
two values, say {A
1
and A
2
}
In a multilevel, i.e., M-ary system, symbols
may take M values {A
1
, A
2
,... A
M
}
Signalling period, T
Each transmitted pulse is given by
) ( kT t h a
T k

Where h
T
(t) is the time domain pulse shape
PAM
To generate the PAM output signal, we may
choose to represent the input to the transmit
filter h
T
(t) as a train of weighted impulse
functions

=
=
k
k s
kT t a t x ) ( ) ( o
Consequently, the filter output x(t) is a train of
pulses, each with the required shape h
T
(t)

=
=
k
T k
kT t h a t x ) ( ) (
PAM
Filtering of impulse train in transmit filter
Transmit
Filter

=
=
k
T k
kT t h a t x ) ( ) (

=
=
k
k s
kT t a t x ) ( ) ( o
) (t h
T
) (t x
s
) (t x
PAM
Clearly not a practical technique so
Use a practical input pulse shape, then filter to
realise the desired output pulse shape
Store a sampled pulse shape in a ROM and read out
through a D/A converter
The transmitted signal x(t) passes through the
channel H
C
(e) and the receive filter H
R
(e).
The overall frequency response is
H(e) = H
T
(e) H
C
(e) H
R
(e)
PAM
Hence the signal at the receiver filter output is
) ( ) ( ) ( t v kT t h a t y
k
k
+ =

=
Where h(t) is the inverse Fourier transform of H(e)
and v(t) is the noise signal at the receive filter
output
Data detection is now performed by the Data
Slicer
PAM- Data Detection
Sampling y(t), usually at the optimum instant
t=nT+t
d
when the pulse magnitude is the
greatest yields
n
k
d k d n
v t T k n h a t nT y y + + = + =

=
) ) (( ) (
Where v
n
=v(nT+t
d
) is the sampled noise and t
d
is the
time delay required for optimum sampling
y
n
is then compared with threshold(s) to
determine the recovered data symbols
PAM- Data Detection
Data Slicer decision
threshold = 0V
0
Signal at data
slicer input, y(t)
Sample clock
Sampled signal,
y
n
= y(nT+t
d
)
Ideal sample instants
at t = nT+t
d
0
TX data
TX symbol, a
k

1 0 0 1 0
+A -A -A +A -A
Detected data 1 0 0 1 0
T
t
d

Synchronisation
We need to derive an accurate clock signal at
the receiver in order that y(t) may be sampled at
the correct instant
Such a signal may be available directly (usually
not because of the waste involved in sending a
signal with no information content)
Usually, the sample clock has to be derived
directly from the received signal.
Synchronisation
The ability to extract a symbol timing clock
usually depends upon the presence of transitions
or zero crossings in the received signal.
Line coding aims to raise the number of such
occurrences to help the extraction process.
Unfortunately, simple line coding schemes often
do not give rise to transitions when long runs of
constant symbols are received.
Synchronisation
Some line coding schemes give rise to a
spectral component at the symbol rate
A BPF or PLL can be used to extract this
component directly
Sometimes the received data has to be non-
linearly processed eg, squaring, to yield a
component of the correct frequency.
Intersymbol Interference
If the system impulse response h(t) extends over
more than 1 symbol period, symbols become
smeared into adjacent symbol periods
Known as intersymbol interference (ISI)
The signal at the slicer input may be rewritten as
n
n k
d k d n n
v t T k n h a t h a y + + + =

=
) ) (( ) (
The first term depends only on the current symbol a
n

The summation is an interference term which
depends upon the surrounding symbols
Intersymbol Interference
Example
Response h(t) is Resistor-Capacitor (R-C) first
order arrangement- Bit duration is T
For this example we will assume that a
binary 0 is sent as 0V.
Time (bit periods)
0 2 4 6
a
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e

0.5
1.0
Time (bit periods)
0 2 4 6
a
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e

0.5
1.0
Modulator input Slicer input
Binary 1 Binary 1
Intersymbol Interference
The received pulse at the slicer now extends
over 4 bit periods giving rise to ISI.
The actual received signal is the
superposition of the individual pulses
time (bit periods)
0 2 4 6
a
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e

0.5
1.0
1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1
Intersymbol Interference
For the assumed data the signal at the slicer
input is,
Clearly the ease in making decisions is data
dependant
time (bit periods) 0 2 4 6
a
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e

0.5
1.0
Note non-zero values at ideal sample instants
corresponding with the transmission of binary 0s
1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1
Decision threshold
Intersymbol Interference
Matlab generated plot showing pulse
superposition (accurately)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
Decision
threshold
time (bit periods)
Received
signal
Individual
pulses
a
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e

Intersymbol Interference
Sending a longer data sequence yields the
following received waveform at the slicer input
Decision
threshold
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
Decision
threshold
(Also showing
individual pulses)
Eye Diagrams
Worst case error performance in noise can be
obtained by calculating the worst case ISI over all
possible combinations of input symbols.
A convenient way of measuring ISI is the eye
diagram
Practically, this is done by displaying y(t) on a
scope, which is triggered using the symbol clock
The overlaid pulses from all the different symbol
periods will lead to a criss-crossed display, with
an eye in the middle
Example R-C response
Eye Diagram
Decision
threshold
Optimum sample instant
h = eye height
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
h
Eye Diagrams
The size of the eye opening, h (eye height)
determines the probability of making incorrect
decisions
The instant at which the max eye opening occurs
gives the sampling time t
d

The width of the eye indicates the resilience to
symbol timing errors
For M-ary transmission, there will be M-1 eyes
Eye Diagrams
The generation of a representative eye
assumes the use of random data symbols
For simple channel pulse shapes with binary
symbols, the eye diagram may be
constructed manually by finding the worst
case 1 and worst case 0 and
superimposing the two
Nyquist Pulse Shaping
It is possible to eliminate ISI at the sampling
instants by ensuring that the received pulses
satisfy the Nyquist pulse shaping criterion
We will assume that t
d
=0, so the slicer input is
n
n k
k n n
v T k n h a h a y + + =

=
) ) (( ) 0 (
If the received pulse is such that

=
=
=
0 for 0
0 for 1
) (
n
n
nT h
Nyquist Pulse Shaping
Then
n n n
v a y + =
and so ISI is avoided
This condition is only achieved if
T
T
k
f H
k
=
|
.
|

\
|
+

=
That is the pulse spectrum, repeated at
intervals of the symbol rate sums to a
constant value T for all frequencies
Nyquist Pulse Shaping
1/T 1/T 0
T
2/T 2/T
f
0
H(f)
T
f
Why?
Sample h(t) with a train of o pulses at times kT

=
=
k
s
kT t t h t h ) ( ) ( ) ( o
Consequently the spectrum of h
s
(t) is

=
k
s
T k H
T
H ) 2 (
1
) ( t e e
Remember for zero ISI

=
=
=
0 for 0
0 for 1
) (
n
n
nT h
Why?
Consequently h
s
(t)=o(t)
The spectrum of o(t)=1, therefore
1 ) 2 (
1
) ( = =

k
s
T k H
T
H t e e
Substituting f=e/2t gives the Nyquist pulse
shaping criterion

=
k
T T k f H ) (
Nyquist Pulse Shaping
1/T 1/T 0
T
2/T 2/T
f
No pulse bandwidth less than 1/2T can
satisfy the criterion, eg,
Clearly, the repeated spectra do not sum to a constant value
Nyquist Pulse Shaping
The minimum bandwidth pulse spectrum
H(f), ie, a rectangular spectral shape, has a
sinc pulse response in the time domain,

< <
=
elsewhere 0
2 1 2T 1 - for
) (
T f T
f H
The sinc pulse shape is very sensitive to
errors in the sample timing, owing to its low
rate of sidelobe decay
Nyquist Pulse Shaping
Hard to design practical brick-wall filters,
consequently filters with smooth spectral
roll-off are preferred
Pulses may take values for t<0 (ie non-
causal). No problem in a practical system
because delays can be introduced to enable
approximate realisation.
Causal Response
Non-causal response
T = 1 s
Causal response
T = 1s
Delay, t
d
= 10s
Raised Cosine (RC) Fall-Off
Pulse Shaping
Practically important pulse shapes which
satisfy the criterion are those with Raised
Cosine (RC) roll-off
The pulse spectrum is given by
2 1 2 1
2 1 0
) 2 1 (
4
cos
2 1
) (
2
| |
|
|
|
t
|
+ s <

+ >
+
s
= T f T
T f
T f T
T f T
f H
With, 0<|<1/2T
RC Pulse Shaping
The general RC function is as follows,
H(f)
f (Hz)
T
0
T 2
1
| +
T 2
1
|
T 2
1
T
1
2 1 2 1
2 1 0
) 2 1 (
4
cos
2 1
) (
2
| |
|
|
|
t
|
+ s <

+ >
+
s
= T f T
T f
T f T
T f T
f H
RC Pulse Shaping
The corresponding time domain pulse shape
is given by,
( )
|
|
.
|

\
|

|
|
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
2
4 1
2 cos
sin
) (
t
t
t
T
t
T
t h
|
t|
t
t
Now | allows a trade-off between bandwidth
and the pulse decay rate
Sometimes | is normalised as follows,

( )
T
x
2
1
|
=
RC Pulse Shaping
With |=0 (i.e., x = 0) the spectrum of the filter is
rectangular and the time domain response is a
sinc pulse, that is,
T f T f H 2 1 ) ( s =
|
|
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
t
T
t
T
t h
t
t
sin
) (
The time domain pulse has zero crossings at
intervals of nT as desired (See plots for x = 0).
RC Pulse Shaping
With |=(1/2T), (i.e., x = 1) the spectrum of the
filter is full RC and the time domain response is
a pulse with low sidelobe levels, that is,
T f
Tf
T f H 1
2
cos ) (
2
s
|
.
|

\
|
=
t
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|

= t
T
t
T
t h
t 2
sinc
4
1
1
) (
2
2
The time domain pulse has zero crossings at
intervals of nT/2, with the exception at T/2
where there is no zero crossing. See plots for
x = 1.
RC Pulse Shaping
Normalised Spectrum H(f)/T Pulse Shape h(t)
x = 0
x = 0.5
x = 1
f *T t/T
RC Pulse Shaping- Example 1
Eye diagram
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
Pulse shape and received signal, x = 0 (| = 0)
RC Pulse Shaping- Example 2
Eye diagram
Pulse shape and received signal, x = 1 (| = 1/2T)
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
-0.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
-0.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
RC Pulse Shaping- Example
The much wider eye opening for x = 1 gives
a much greater tolerance to inaccurate
sample clock timing
The penalty is the much wider transmitted
bandwidth
Probability of Error
In the presence of noise, there will be a finite
chance of decision errors at the slicer output
The smaller the eye, the higher the chance that the
noise will cause an error. For a binary system a
transmitted 1 could be detected as a 0 and
vice-versa
In a PAM system, the probability of error is,
P
e
=Pr{A received symbol is incorrectly detected}
For a binary system, P
e
is known as the bit error
probability, or the bit error rate (BER)


BER
The received signal at the slicer is
n i n
v V y + =
Where V
i
is the received signal voltage and
V
i
=V
o
for a transmitted 0 or
V
i
=V
1
for a transmitted 1
With zero ISI and an overall unity gain, V
i
=a
n
,
the current transmitted binary symbol
Suppose the noise is Gaussian, with zero mean
and variance
2
v
o
BER
2
2
2
2
2
1
) (
v
n
v
v
n
e v f
o
to

=
Where f(v
n
) denotes the probability density
function (pdf), that is,
dx x f dx x v x
n
) ( } Pr{ = + s <
and
}
= s <
b
a
n
dx x f b v a ) ( } Pr{
BER
dx
v
n

f(v
n
)
b a
0
BER
The slicer detects the received signal using
a threshold voltage V
T

For a binary system the decision is
Decide 1 if y
n
V
T

Decide 0 if y
n
<V
T
>
For equiprobable symbols, the optimum threshold
is in the centre of V
0
and V
1
, ie V
T
=(V
0
+V
1
)/2
BER
y
n

f(y
n
|0 sent)
V
T

0
f(y
n
|1 sent)
P(error|0) P(error|1)
V
1
V
0

BER
The probability of error for a binary system can be
written as:
P
e
=Pr(0sent and error occurs)+Pr(1sent and error occurs)

>
>
) ( ) 0 | (
o T n
V V v P error P > =
1
) 1 | ( ) 0 | ( P error P P error P P
o e
+ =
For 0 sent: an error occurs when y
n
V
T
let v
n
=y
n
-V
o
, so when y
n
=V
o
, v
n
=0 and when y
n
=V
T
,
v
n
=V
T
-V
o
.
So equivalently, we get an error when v
n
V
T
-V
0

BER
y
n

f(y
n
|0 sent)
V
T

0
P(error|0)
V
0

v
n

f(v
n
)
V
T
- V
0
0
P(error|0)
BER
The Q function is one of a number of
tabulated functions for the Gaussian
cumulative distribution function (cdf) ie the
integral of the Gaussian pdf.
}

|
|
.
|

\
|

= =
o T
V V
v
o T
n n
V V
Q dv v f error P
o
) ( ) 0 | (
Where,
}

=
z
x
dx e z Q
2
2
2
1
) (
t
BER
Similarly for 1 sent: an error occurs when y
n
<V
T
let v
n
=y
n
-V
1
, so when y
n
=V
1
, v
n
=0 and when y
n
=V
T
,
v
n
=V
T
-V
1
.
So equivalently, we get an error when v
n
< V
T
-V
1

) ( ) ( ) 1 | (
1 1 T n T n
V V v P V V v P error P > = < =
}

|
|
.
|

\
|

= =
T
V V
v
T
n n
V V
Q dv v f error P
1
1
) ( ) 1 | (
o
BER
y
n

V
T

0
f(y
n
|1 sent)
P(error|1)
V
1

V
T
-V
1


v
n

0
f(v
n
)
P(error|1)
-(V
T
-V
1
)
V
1
-V
T
BER
Hence the total error probability is
P
e
=Pr(0sent and error occurs)+Pr(1sent and error occurs)

1
) 1 | ( ) 0 | ( P error P P error P P
o e
+ =
1
1
P
V V
Q P
V V
Q P
v
T
o
v
o T
e
|
|
.
|

\
|

+
|
|
.
|

\
|

=
o o
Where P
o
is the probability that a 0 was sent and P
1
is the
probability that a 1 was sent
For P
o
=P
1
=0.5, the min error rate is obtained when,

2
1
V V
V
o
T
+
=
BER
Consequently,
o
v v
o
e
V V h
h
Q
V V
Q P =
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
|
|
.
|

\
|

=
1
1
min
here, w
2 2 o o
Notes:
Q(.) is a monotonically decreasing function of its
argument, hence the BER falls as h increases
For received pulses satisfying Nyquist criterion, ie
zero ISI, V
o
=A
o
and V
1
=A
1
. Assuming unity overall
gain.
More complex with ISI. Worst case performance if h
is taken to be the eye opening
BER Example
The received pulse h(t) in response to a
single transmitted binary 1 is as shown,
Where,
h(0) = 0, h(T) = 0.3, h(2T) = 1, h(3T) = 0, h(4T) = -0.2, h(5T) =0
Bit period = T
t
0 T 2T 3T 4T 5T
0.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
h(t)
(V)
BER Example
What is the worst case BER if a 1 is received as
h(t) and a 0 as -h(t) (this is known as a polar
binary scheme)? Assume the data are equally likely
to be 0 and 1 and that the optimum threshold
(OV) is used at the slicer.
By inspection, the pulse has only 2 non-zero
amplitude values (at T and 4T) away from the ideal
sample point (at 2T).
BER Example
Consequently the worst case 1 occurs
when the data bits conspire to give negative
non-zero pulse amplitudes at the sampling
instant.
The worst case 1 eye opening is thus,
1 - 0.3 - 0.2 = 0.5
as indicated in the following diagram.
BER Example
The indicated data gives rise to the worst case 1 eye
opening. Dont care about data marked X as their pulses
are zero at the indicated sample instant
t
0 T 2T 3T 4T 5T
0.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1 1 0 X X X
6T 7T 8T
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
Optimum sample point for circled bit, amplitude = 1-0.3-0.2 = 0.5
0.3 0.2
BER Example
Similarly the worst case 0 eye opening is
-1 + 0.3 + 0.2 = -0.5
So, worst case eye opening h = 0.5-(-0.5) = 1V
Giving the BER as,

|
|
.
|

\
|
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
v v
e
Q
h
Q P
o o 2
1
2
min
Where o
v
is the rms noise
at the slicer input
Summary
For PAM systems we have
Looked at ISI and its assessment using eye diagrams
Nyquist pulse shaping to eliminate ISI at the
optimum sampling instants
Seen how to calculate the worst case BER in the
presence of Gaussian noise and ISI